Episode 1

Legendary broadcaster Gillian Reynolds looks back at her life and the role of radio in it.

An award-winning journalist in print and on air, Gillian Reynolds was a radio critic for over 50 years, and a lifelong listener. Her sharp observation, warm wit and unerring sense of what works in sound are celebrated in this series of essays, where she looks back at a life and career inextricably intertwined with the radio. Presenters, comedians, dramatists, politicians, station controllers, commissioners – Gillian knew them all, and shares fascinating memories over her distinguished career, and her deep love for the medium of radio.

You Me and the Wireless discusses how and why radio works so well in different genres, with highlights from a long and distinguished career in both commercial and public sector broadcasting.

"Radio is more popular with BBC audiences than TV, delivering 43 percent of the BBC's total audience……. radio is perceived as a medium of the future not a dusty relic……. There are ways of telling a story on radio... audio does better than any other medium, more intimately and with more immediate impact."
Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph December 2015

After writing for The Guardian from 1967 to 1974, Gillian was the radio critic for The Daily Telegraph for more than 42 years, from 1975 to 2018. She then continued her career at The Sunday Times, where she wrote about radio until 2021. She was the first Programme Controller of Radio City in Liverpool in 1974, the first woman in the UK to hold such a post.
Gillian Reynolds is a Fellow of The Radio Academy, a trustee of the National Museum in Liverpool, a Fellow of the Royal Television Society and an Honorary Fellow of her old Oxford college, St Anne's.

Essay 1

Gillian discusses why radio is so important to its audience, going back to where it all began – growing up on a Liverpool Council estate, with the radio an ever present companion. Memories include her indomitable mother supporting her to get a place at Oxford, plus her early career in commercial radio in Liverpool.

Archive clips:

Neville Chamberlain’s declaration of War, BBC Radio, 3rd September 1939

An Appointment with Fear Valentine Dyall, BBC Light Programme, 20th November 1945

Writer and presenter : Gillian Reynolds
Producer : Polly Thomas
Sound designer : Paul Cargill
Exec producer : Jon Sen

A Thomas Carter Projects production for BBC Radio 3.